A passing phase of treatment, associated with the later half of the seventeenth century, is the carved floriated balustrade, such as is to be seen at Sudbury House in Derbyshire (Fig. 211). This is generally combined with massive newels, handrail, and string; indeed, it could hardly be otherwise, for the carved foliage required a fair thickness of wood, and as the carving was almost necessarily made in straight lengths, there had to be newels to receive it. It is not a very common form of treatment, and is usually confined to large houses where expense was not a primary consideration. The same illustration affords good examples of plasterwork in the ceiling, and of woodwork in the doors. It will be seen how much larger in scale is this work than the work of the beginning of the seventeenth century.
210. Staircase in a House in Love Lane, London (now destroyed).
(Late 17th cent.)
With the eighteenth century the treatment of staircases grew more dainty. The handrail, newels, and balusters lessened in size; the outer string disappeared, and the balusters rested on the ends of the steps themselves. The whole effect became lighter. In Austin Friars, London, there was a house of the date of 1704 (now destroyed) which had a fine staircase, illustrated in Fig. 212, where these changes are apparent. It will be seen also that the handrail is ramped, that is, curved upwards at each turn in the staircase in order to attain the proper level for being mitred round the top of the newel. In earlier work, it would have been carried in a straight line till it stopped against the newel, but as the newels are here twisted, there is no plain surface to receive it, and accordingly ramping becomes a necessity. The twisting of the balusters was a common device, more common than that of twisting the newels.
211. Staircase from Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire.
212. Staircase from a House in Austin Friars, London, 1704.
(Now destroyed.)